He shrugged. “My location is secret. The other option was to scrub your memory, and I didn’t wish to do that.”
“Damn good thing you didn’t. Don’t tinker around in a Relic’s head. I’m perfectly okay with land transportation, just so you know. I could have squeezed in a nap in the back of a car.”
“Why didn’t you nap in the helicopter?”
She cackled. “In that death machine?” Milly approached him with her bag. “If you’re this loaded, invest in a private jet. They’re fast, less dangerous, and have a bathroom. You certainly have enough land out here for a hangar.” Before they reached the entryway, Milly looked over her shoulder at me. “Remember what I said about stress. Think of this as a getaway vacation. And smile! Did you know smiling releases chemicals in the brain?”
After they left, I ventured into the kitchen and peeled an orange.
Atticus entered from the back door, his hair windblown. “I called the Relic with your prescription. It’ll be ready later this evening.”
He looked nice in brown trousers and a three-quarter-sleeve white shirt that showed off his forearms. It seemed strange for a man who was so put together to not own any mirrors. How did he know how his outfits looked on him?
He stared at me for a length of time. “You have my word that everything I overheard about the baby will remain private.”
I chewed on the tasty orange. “Why doesn’t your house have any mirrors?”
“I dislike them.”
“Are you worried guests will notice you don’t cast a reflection?” I quipped.
He gave me a puzzled look. “Your bathroom has a mirror, does it not?”
“Of course. But most homes have mirrors placed in hallways or smaller areas. I haven’t seen one.”
He stood opposite me and flattened his hands on the granite countertop. “Surely you know we cast a reflection.”
“Of course I do. But some of those stories are silly, don’t you think?”
He reached for a garlic bulb and rolled it between his fingers. “Many cultures hold misguided beliefs about Vampires. Some are misunderstandings, like thinking stakes can kill us. We look very dead when paralyzed, but even if you plunged it through our heart, we wouldn’t die.”
“What about garlic?”
“Garlic breath is revolting, but that’s it.”
“Yet you buy it.”
“For you. I don’t know what you like to eat, and garlic is a common seasoning. The myth about silver crosses was to throw off the Church, but many myths we fabricated ourselves. You Shifters can easily hide what you are from humans, but we have physical differences that make people uneasy. The human subconscious lingers on details that the conscious mind chooses to ignore.”
“Forgive my ignorance, but how do you heal superficial wounds by licking them? What I mean is… when you drink from someone’s neck, why doesn’t their wound seal up instantly?”
He canted his head, clearly amused by my interest. “It works the same way it does with Chitahs—by willing it. I’m ignorant myself to the science behind it, but I presume a chemical is released or altered in our saliva. Much the same way Milly said that smiling releases chemicals in your brain. If it were there all the time, we would have a difficult time drinking from our victims.”
I thought about how old he was. “How did you conceal your eyes in the early days?”
“Vampires rarely came out in the daytime for a reason. Not just because the light hurts our eyes, but the sun highlights our differences.”
“So you spent your life living in the woods?”
Atticus gave a warm laugh that didn’t linger. “Some did, but not me. There were the occasional Breed communities, but not many. Most of them didn’t like outsiders; others were all the same Breed. We mostly traveled and lived among humans.”
I ate another juicy orange slice. “My family lived in a human community, but it was easier for us to blend in. How did you manage to avoid their scrutiny?”
“Most villages and farmworkers retired early, but larger towns and villages were a different story. In flickering candlelight, people rarely gaze into a stranger’s eyes, especially one seated with his back to the fire. Black irises can be overlooked in the shadows. It’s only an issue when they catch a glimpse in the light. As you can tell, the shade is one of the deepest blacks in existence.” He tossed the garlic bulb back in the basket. “In some countries, we made the locals believe we had tails or could only be female. It took the focus off us and made it easy to dispel any suspicion. But not for long.” Atticus folded his arms on the counter and leaned against it. “One can never be too comfortable, so I was always on the move.”
“I traveled too, but for a different reason.” I finished the last slice of my orange.
“And what would that be?”
